Defining Kawasaki disease and pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Italy: results from a national, multicenter survey

Background: There is mounting evidence on the existence of a Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS), sharing similarities with Kawasaki Disease (KD). The main outcome of the study were to better characterize the clinical features and the treatment response of PIMS-TS and to explore its relationship with KD determining whether KD and PIMS are two distinct entities. Methods: The Rheumatology Study Group of the Italian Pediatric Society launched a survey to enroll patients diagnosed with KD (Kawasaki Disease Group - KDG) or KD-like (Kawacovid Group - KCG) disease between February 1st 2020, and May 31st 2020. Demographic, clinical, laboratory data, treatment information, and patients' outcome were collected in an online anonymized database (RedCAP®). Relationship between clinical presentation and SARS-CoV-2 infection was also taken into account. Moreover, clinical characteristics of KDG during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (KDG-CoV2) were compared to Kawasaki Disease patients (KDG-Historical) seen in three different Italian tertiary pediatric hospitals (Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste; AOU Meyer, Florence; IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa) from January 1st 2000 to December 31st 2019. Chi square test or exact Fisher test and non-parametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test were used to study differences between two groups. Results: One-hundred-forty-nine cases were enrolled, (96 KDG and 53 KCG). KCG children were significantly older and presented more frequently from gastrointestinal and respiratory involvement. Cardiac involvement was more common in KCG, with 60,4% of patients with myocarditis. 37,8% of patients among KCG presented hypotension/non-cardiogenic shock. Coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) were more common in the KDG. The risk of ICU admission were higher in KCG. Lymphopenia, higher CRP levels, elevated ferritin and troponin-T characterized KCG. KDG received more frequently immunoglobulins (IVIG) and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) (81,3% vs 66%; p = 0.04 and 71,9% vs 43,4%; p = 0.001 respectively) as KCG more often received glucocorticoids (56,6% vs 14,6%; p < 0.0001). SARS-CoV-2 assay more often resulted positive in KCG than in KDG (75,5% vs 20%; p < 0.0001). Short-term follow data showed minor complications. Comparing KDG with a KD-Historical Italian cohort (598 patients), no statistical difference was found in terms of clinical manifestations and laboratory data. Conclusion: Our study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection might determine two distinct inflammatory diseases in children: KD and PIMS-TS. Older age at onset and clinical peculiarities like the occurrence of myocarditis characterize this multi-inflammatory syndrome. Our patients had an optimal response to treatments and a good outcome, with few complications and no deaths

Influence of olive (cv Grignano) fruit ripening and oil extraction under different nitrogen regimes on volatile organic compound emissions studied by PTR-MS technique

Volatile organic compounds of extra virgin olive oils obtained from the local Italian cultivar Grignano were measured by proton transfer reaction–mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). Oils were extracted by olives harvested at different ripening stages across veraison, performing each extraction step and the whole extraction process in nitrogen atmosphere to observe the changes in the volatile profiles of the oils. Principal component analysis carried out on the full spectral signature of the PTR-MS measurements showed that the stage of ripening has a stronger effect on the global definition of volatile profiles than the use of nitrogen during oil extraction. The fingerprint-like chemical information provided by the spectra were used to construct a heat map, which allowed the dynamical representation of the multivariate nature of mass evolution during the ripening process. This provided the first evidence that some groups of volatile organic compounds displayed a time course of regulation with coordinated increasing or decreasing trends in association with specific stages of fruit ripening

Vitamin D levels in hospitalised children of Southern Italy: A relationship with cause of admittance?

The paper analyzes and discusses the the results of a study which suggests a possible association between the causes of hospital admission and the Vitamin D levels detected in a population of children hospitalized in a geographic area of Southern Italy

Food intake in obese children and adolescents at higher risk for metabolic syndrome

The paper presents and discusses a study regarding the food intake in a population of obese children and adolescents who have been classified at high risk for metabolic syndrom

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) optical properties deterioration induced by temperature and protective effect of organically modified SiO2–TiO2 coating

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely used polymeric substrates for flexible photonic applications. Like all polymers, its usage is limited by the modest environmental and temperature resistance. In this work, the optical properties deterioration of PET substrate, in the form of 175 μm thick film, is discussed and the strategy to overcome this problem, by application of the sol-gel coating, is presented. The investigations of physicochemical changes occurring in PET after the thermal treatment at temperatures of 160 °C, 190 °C, and 210 °C were performed by various characterization techniques, such as thermal analysis (DSC – differential scanning calorimetry and TG – thermal gravimetry), structural and chemical composition analysis (XRD – X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS – X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and microscopic analysis (SEM-EDS – scanning electron microscopy with chemical composition analysis, AFM – atomic force microscopy). The 25-layer organically modified SiO2–TiO2 coating obtained by the sol-gel method is demonstrated to be an effective protection against the optical properties deterioration of PET. The protective effect is demonstrated by the comparison of surface morphology, and optical properties of PET, with and without the protective coating, after thermal treatment at different temperatures. The refractive index of materials and thickness of coatings have also been studied with M-line and white light reflectance spectroscopy (WLRS)

Flexible all-glass planar structured fabricated by RF-sputtering

Flexible SiO2/HfO2 1D photonic crystals and active SiO2–HfO2:Er3+ all-glass flexible planar waveguides fabricated by radio frequency sputtering, are presented. The 1D photonic crystals show a strong dependence of the optical features on the light incident angle: i) blue-shift of the stopband and ii) narrowing of the reflectance window. Nevertheless, the most interesting result is the experimental evidence that, even after the 1D photonic crystals breakage, where the flexible glass shows naked-eye visible cracks, the multilayer structures generally maintain their integrity, resulting to be promising systems for flexible photonic applications thanks to their optical, thermal and mechanical stability. The flexible planar waveguides, fabricated on ultrathin flexible glass substrate, showed an attenuation coefficient lower than 0.2 dB/cm at 1.54 μm, and exibits emission in the NIR region, resulting particularly suitable as waveguide amplifier in the C band of telecommunications

RF-sputtering fabrication of flexible glass-based 1D photonic crystals

Integration of photonic systems on deformable substrates has given rise to flexible photonics, a research field that has rapidly emerged in recent years. By adding mechanical flexibility to planar photonic structures, the spectrum of applications gains an incredible expansion. Flexible glassy photonic structures require a careful design and suitable fabrication protocols, in order to keep the optical and spectroscopic properties similar to their traditional rigid counterparts, even under mechanical deformation. Here, a radio frequency (RF) sputtering deposition protocol is developed for fabricating glass-based 1D photonic crystals on ultrathin flexible glass as well as on rigid substrates for comparison. Three different 1D multilayer structures, constituted by SiO2 and HfO2 layers, were first designed and modelled by Transfer Matrix Method to tailor targeted optical features (transmission windows, stopband ranges) and then fabricated by RF-sputtering technique. The structural, morphological, and optical features of the samples were investigated. In particular, the transmission spectra of the glass-based 1D photonic crystals, deposited on both flexible and rigid substrates, were acquired to highlight up to which extent the different nature of the substrates and the mechanical deformations (bending tests on the flexible structures) are not influencing the key spectral properties of the photonic crystals

Imerslund-GrÄsbeck syndrome and celiac disease: A strange but possible association

The paper describes the unusuala association of Imerslund-GrÄsbeck syndrome and celiac disease

All-glass flexible 1D photonic crystals fabricated via RF-sputtering as dichroic mirrors

The benefits obtained in terms of costs and applicability by the development of flexible and stretchable electronics, compared to their rigid counterparts, have fostered the birth of the idea of the photonics analogue. By adding mechanical flexibility to photonic structures, the fields of application expand incredibly. In particular, we are interested in 1D photonic crystals that, due to their versatility, are exploited in several applications from sensors to dichroic mirrors in photovoltaic cells. Here, a radio frequency (RF) sputtering deposition protocol is developed for fabricating dichroic mirrors on ultrathin flexible glass as well as on rigid substrates for comparison. The 1D multilayer structures, constituted by silica and hafnia layers, were first designed, and modelled by Transfer Matrix Method to tailor targeted optical features (transmission windows, stopband ranges) and then fabricated by RF-sputtering technique. The optical features of the samples, on both flexible and rigid substrates, were studied to highlight up to which extent the different nature of the substrates and the mechanical deformations are not influencing the key spectral properties of the photonic crystals